US border authorities have denied a Palestinian student entry into the United States, where he was set to start his studies at Harvard University next week. They refused his visa because of social media posts by his friends that expressed views that “oppose the US,” he told the Harvard Crimson, which first reported the story.
Ismail B Ajjawi, 17, is back home in Lebanon now, after being deported from Boston’s Logan International Airport on Friday, August 23 by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers. Ajjawi’s recounting says it was because of what officers found when they searched his laptop and phone, but US authorities have not thoroughly explained the reasons.
“When I asked every time to have my phone back so I could tell them about the situation, the officer refused and told me to sit back in [my] position and not move at all,” Ajjawi told the Crimson. “After the five hours ended, she called me into a room, and she started screaming at me. She said that she found people posting political points of view that oppose the US on my friend[s] list.”